


The Warlord's Jedi

by ausmac



Series: The Jedi and the Warlord [2]
Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 09:08:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12791331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ausmac/pseuds/ausmac
Summary: a sequel to my "Warlord and the Jedi"; Obi-Wan settles into his new home and new life with Qui-Gon, but desparate events almost destoys both of them.





	The Warlord's Jedi

It had taken Obi-Wan a long time to grow accustomed to life on Newsaran.  The world itself was not an easy place to abide;  its higher gravity and cold climate constantly sapped his energy.  He knew his body would strengthen in time.  It was simply a test, another life experience that the Force or destiny or happenstance had tossed in his way the day he had met the Warlord.  Qui-Gon Jinn. 

The people of his new home had been surprisingly accepting, considering their historic dislike of all things Republic.  Especially Jedi.  Their history made them naturally suspicious of outsiders but their trust in their chieftain was nearly absolute.  If Qui-Gon liked and trusted this frail-looking young Jedi, then they would give him a chance.  Though Obi-Wan suspected it was more a chance to see him fall on his face than anything. 

Two of the first hurdles he'd needed to climb were gaining the approval of the two woman who had been his lover's mates.  The alliances had been only temporary but it will still daunting to be faced down by two tall, extremely robust women who studied him as if he were some peculiar creature their Lord had dragged in.  Destra's mother, Janne Holmer, was pleasant enough woman with dark red hair like her daughter's, and clear blue eyes.  She'd seemed to weigh him up silently, then gave a quick smile and held out her hand to shake.  

Meeting Kade's mother, Sherlee Fennis, on the other hand, had been like colliding with an iceberg at sea - he'd gone down without a hope.  Only a couple of years older than he, she had all but sneered at him, her elegant young face tight and angry.  "So you're the one," she'd said, in controlled rudeness.  "And I thought Qui-Gon was a decent man.  But perhaps Jedi have attributes I'd never heard of." 

After that, there was no chance of a relationship.  Qui-Gon had watched in cool disapproval and would have said something but Obi-Wan had held him back.  "It's not important.  Not everyone is going to like me." 

A smile had stirred those lips and hooded eyes had gleamed down at him.  "Well, I like parts of you.  I like your eyes.  I like your hair.  I like your lovely rounded ass.  I like…"  He kept saying that until Obi-Wan had blushed fiery red and Qui-Gon laughed softly and kissed the blushes away.  One thing led to another, as it usually did.  The "other" involved the sort of sex that left the Jedi a collapsed bunch of flesh and nerves fried with pleasure. 

Time passed, as did the seasons and he saw the world in its many moods and came to appreciate the beauty amidst the harshness.  Night skies filled with the glory of the nebula, the gas clouds a mass of swirling incandescence like perpetually frozen fireworks.  Snow on the high peaks, winter thaws that turned the rivers wild.  Summer nights, spring days.  The Force flowed around him, rich and vibrant, as clean as the air and the water, untainted by outside influence. 

Dawn on Newsaran was astonishing, full of harsh reflections and the high screams of the great hunting Byrades.  Some of the surviving colonists had wanted to call them dragons, those huge flying reptiles that soared on the currents of the high mountain ranges.  Newsaran wasn't a world of fairy tale creatures.  For all its beauty it had a hard soul and it killed the unwise and the lazy.  A thousand of them had died in the first week battling the many vicious predators and the weakness and disease.  Those who survived became harder still.  Newsaran took them in and moulded them into a tougher breed. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi didn't feel particularly strong, or that well suited for Newsaran and its  ways.  It had taken him weeks to begin to appreciate it at all.  There was a splendour in its harshness, a quality of icy clarity that went beyond the simpler shades of his former life.  This was his home now, and its embodiment lay in the bed beside him, asleep and trusting in his company. 

He turned on his side and watched his lover sleep.  Lush hair lay around his head and the broad, hair-dusted chest rose and fell slowly.  Obi-Wan had never known such a man as Qui-Gon Jinn, had never felt the power of desire and passion that love and physicality could stir.  He catalogued the features as his eyes wandered across the face of the man he loved.  A nose, definitely crooked.  A good chin, decorated by its streaked beard, bearing a fine mouth.  Strong bones, though not really graceful.  Hair an intermediate colour and laced here and there with silver from his years of hard work.  Big strong hands, solid musculature, a healthy, slim body without an ounce of unnecessary fat.  A hardy vessel for the soul it bore. 

And beautiful.  Beautiful in a way that was absolutely his own.  A strong animal, fearless and brilliant and just a little savage.  Powerful in the Force, it came from him like the sound of a perfectly cast bell.  My Qui-Gon, he thought with an odd sense of possessiveness, for Jedi were taught that they owned only themselves and their faith in the Force.  _Yet he is mine, here, now.  As I am his._  

He lifted one hand and moved it towards Qui-Gon's chest, hovered just above the soft brown flesh of one nipple then gently, lightly, touched the peak with one finger.   Slowly, he rubbed it, saw it swell and watched his lover stir awake to the gentle touch.  He was careful waking Qui-Gon;  on one occasion he'd been a little exotic and the older man had woken to a fighting readiness with Obi-Wan flat on his back on the floor.  A warrior, even one as relatively sedate as Qui-Gon, needed to be handled with a little extra care. 

This time the Warlord came awake slowly, eyes clearing as they opened to look up at him, a slight smile turning the wide mouth up beneath is frame of beard.  "Good morning." 

"It is," Obi-Wan said softly, one hand sliding down over Qui-Gon's chest, over the ribcage to the flat plain of his stomach.  "A very good morning." 

He slid on top of the long body beneath the covers, seeking his touch, felt strong arms wrap around him, bent his head to kiss the smiling mouth -- 

and the building shook with the long crash of an explosion. 

Obi-Wan was tossed aside as Qui-Gon rolled from the bed.  The Warlord was on his feet in an instant and heading for the door while Obi-Wan stumbled upright.  The building shook again and the sky outside was lit by flashes of fire and then there was the wailing scream of the attack sirens. 

Qui-Gon swore as he stumbled to the door.  "Now the alarms?  What the hells is going on!"  The door opened and two small figures flew inside.  

"Father!" 

Qui-Gon's two children stumbled to him radiating fright and he turned to Obi-Wan.  "Take care of them, I have to find out what is happening."  He bent down, briefly hugged both of them.  "Stay with Obi-Wan, do as he says." 

He strode out into the hall and Obi-Wan final view of him was the tall naked figure striding down the hall shouting orders. 

There wasn't a lot of time to think.  Obi-Wan pulled on a pair of light sleep pants and grabbed his lightsaber from the bedside table before taking one two children by the hand and heading outside.  The building shook around them, the noise from the shrieking sirens adding to the cacophony. 

"Is it pirates?" he yelled above the noise, and Destra clutched at him as a piece of ceiling fell close beside her. 

"Yes, prob'ly.  We have to get to the shelter quick!"  She pushed her brother in front of her.  "C'mon Kade, keep up!" 

The shelter was at the back of the living quarters and they had just reached the stairs when there was a resounding crash and the wall blew inwards.  Obi-Wan shielded the children from the blast as they screamed in shock.  He had a flashing view of large armoured figures coming through the wall - he surged upright, igniting his sabre as three of the figures moved into the rubble-cluttered corridor. 

"That's the kids - get them!"  The voice was muffled but threat rang through the Force and Obi-Wan turned his head minutely. 

"Run!"  

Even as the children turned more of the garishly armoured pirates entered.  They weren't firing blasters, he noticed - they wanted the children alive and didn't wish to risk killing them.  He backed away, trying to clear a path.. .multiple beams lashed and he thought he'd been wrong, they were going to kill - but they were stunners and there were too many of them.  The children fell, their cries choked off as they went down and then he was blanked by pain, numbing heat and he fell too . . . 

"This one is his Jedi, we'll take him too. . .the boss will be pleased. . ." 

Then everything went black.

 

* * *

 

 **Wake up.**   

"Wake up, Jedi."  A sharp slap to the face, he gasped and the woolly blackness fell away.  He opened his eyes and saw a face and the rim of a blaster barrel.  "Be careful - Jedi or no I can pump your brains with this before you can twitch.  And if you try any of that Force brain shit I'll cut one of your eyes out.  Got me?  Nod you head if you do."

He nodded slowly, pushed back the growing headache with a tiny flash of self-Healing and sat up.  He was on a metal floor, no windows, with the vibrating sense of movement of a starship.  Memory flooded back and he tried to stand. 

"The children . . ." 

"I said," the man holding snarled, poking him with the blaster, "be careful.  The kids are alive and healthy.  While you behave they stay that way, got me?  Good, now get up and face the wall." 

Obi-Wan climbed carefully to his feet and did as he was told, not fighting the man as hands pulled his arms behind him and he felt manacles being clipped onto his wrists.  As he straightened his arms he felt a sharp slice at both wrists and hissed in surprised pain. 

"Razorcuffs, pretty boy.  Fight them and they cut you.  Be smart and behave.  Now move!" 

Keeping his arms still, Obi-Wan turned and looked at his captor.  Humanoid, large and heavily built, wearing some sort of uniform done in shades of black and orange..  His scarred face was tattooed and his hair cut into ragged spikes and dyed orange and black.    "Yeah, I know, I'm a stunner, ain't I?  Maybe if you like what you see," the man said, pressing one hand into Obi-Wan's groin, "I might show you where the rest of my markings are, when the boss is finished with you."  The hand slid down between his legs and he used every ounce of will power not to move as the creature fondled him. 

"Whole lot of us don't much favour the Jedi, really looking forward to putting it to one."  He grinned as he withdrew his hand, showing broken teeth.  "By the time we're done you'll know us all real well." 

"If you're finished trying to frighten me," Obi-Wan said coolly, looking the big man in the eye, "do you think you could explain to me what is going on, why I am here and what you have done with those two children?" 

"Not me, but the boss will."  He indicated the open door with a wave of his blaster. "After you, pretty Jedi." 

He was pushed down a narrow corridor, into an elevator that took them up a number of levels.  It opened onto another corridor;  they walked to a door guarded by two huge Gulgorans.  The sight of them turned Obi-Wan's stomach to acid.  It was one of these creatures that had nearly killed him during the attack on Qui-Gon's ship and their presence told him where he probably was. 

They walked through onto a bridge staffed by uniformed figures, some human, but not all.  It was a mixed group of races and all of them seemed chosen for their size and ugliness.  Except, perhaps, for the man seated in the command chair on a raised dais in the middle of the room.  Obi-Wan was pushed to his knees in front of the man who turned his attention away from his readouts to study his captive. 

"Welcome to the Blackhawk.  My name is …" 

"Zedosha.  I know, I have heard of you." 

The big man nodded, eyes narrowed to slits.  He might have been considered handsome, once, but a life of cruelty had creased his face into angles and lines of dissipation.  While no taller than Qui-Gon he was far more heavily muscled, with powerfully muscled arms and legs that showed someone who worked hard at keeping himself strong.  His hair was pale blonde and cut short to his head, except for a tail at the back. 

"I imagine you have.  Kenobi, isn't it?  We've heard of you, too.  The great Lord Jinn's little pet Jedi.  The descriptions did not, for once, lie.  I was only after his children but you are definitely an extra bonus.  I imagine he'll be even more anxious now to hear my deal." 

Obi-Wan settled back on his heels, automatically quelling any emotion, centering himself in the calm place within himself.  "You do not know Qui-Gon at all if you think that.  He won't give into any demands made under threat.  Not even for me." 

"And his children?  Will he lose them as easily? They are his hope for the future." 

Although he'd said it, Obi-Wan wasn't too certain of how Qui-Gon would react.  He sensed that this man was capable of just about anything, that he didn't  threaten what he wasn't prepared to do. He needed information, it might be his only weapon.  "What is it you want?" 

Zedosha settled back in his seat and crossed one leg over the other.  "His main warship, ten million swap credits and …"  He smiled.  "You.  I think I'll keep you." 

Obi-Wan frowned, shook his head.  "I wouldn't know what he would consider reasonable, but why would you want to keep me?" 

Zedosha uncrossed his legs and spread them, leant forward and pulled Obi-Wan up onto the dais till he was kneeling between the pirate's open thighs.  Slowly, one large hand stroked across his face and up into his hair. "How can anyone be so naive, " he said quietly, fingers stirring around jaw and ear, pressing lightly against Obi-Wan's skin. "I can take a Jedi and have him, make him take my cock in his mouth and suck me into him.  I can make him scream when I fuck him and know how much pain that bastard Jinn will feel knowing I'm mounting his precious lover." 

As Obi-Wan tried to turn his face so that couldn't see the speculative lust in the face above him, he felt the blood trickle down onto his hands as he unconsciously fought the manacle and he knew this man would do those very things.  He quelled the fear and nausea and relaxed. 

"If I do what you want, willingly, will you let the children go?"  He looked up, used his Force abilities to project warmth and pleasure as he never had for anyone by Qui-Gon.  "A willing Jedi lover can be so much more pleasurable than a victim." 

The big body tensed around him, reacting to the stimulation, attracted even though the pirate knew he was being manipulated.  "Hm, that's very good.  You tempt me."  He smiled and ran a hand through Obi-Wan's hair, stroking him as he would some tamed animal. "I'll think about the offer, though, yes I will."

 

* * *

 

It was quiet on the "Byrade's" bridge.  Almost too quiet -- the crew  talked in whispers and turned to look briefly, or glance sideways, at their leader sitting stiffly upright in his command chair behind the Navigator.  

They were concerned for him, he knew, concerned for his loss and many of them felt it personally.  Most of them knew his children and felt more than a simple general outrage at what had been done.  Some few, too, knew Obi-Wan and guessed, if they for certain didn't know, how deeply their leader felt for the quiet Jedi Healer. 

But no-one knew his pain, and none of it showed on his face.  

Pain.  Anger.  A terrible fear like some icy cold creature eating away at him from the inside out.  It threatened to wipe out thought, swallow him whole.  More than anything he just wanted to give into that anguish and strike out.  Yet he knew, with absolute certainty, that it would be with cunning and not wrath that he might have any chance of success.  He might rage into battle, but the loss would be greater than the victory. 

His enemy had found himself a formidable weapon, one of the few that could penetrate Qui-Gon's armour.  But how?  _How?  How did they get through the security, past the satellites and the scanners?_   He'd had his Security Service asking those very questions ever since he'd boarded the "Byrade" and blasted away after the attacking raider.  Then he'd received a message, short, to the point.  

**Stand off or your children and your Jedi will die.**

He'd sensed their danger, had been connected to them since their birth but had waited for confirmation from home, and the confirmation had cut to his heart - Obi-Wan and the children were gone.  

 _Someone has betrayed me.  Someone let those raiders through._ He ground his teeth together, nostrils flaring in anger.  _Someone betrayed our world and my trust to let that creature threaten my family.  Someone is going to die._  

He snapped out of his dark reverie as his second officer approached.  "Sir, we are in range, we could try --" 

"No.  We do not do anything.  We wait." 

The young man nodded and returned to his post.  They were all frustrated and worried, for him, for themselves, not knowing what trap they were being led into.  All he could do was follow and take every precaution.  And hope - hope that Obi-Wan could find someway out what was looking more and more like a disaster. . . 

 

* * *

 

 

He'd been pulled from the bridge and into a room and left there alone.  It was a fairly opulent room, with rugs and hangings and a great deal of expensive furniture - including a surprisingly large bed.  There was a bathroom and only one door out and it was locked, with guards outside.  That much he could sense. 

As soon as he'd done a thorough search of the room, Obi-Wan sat down and went to work on the cuffs.  He sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes and sought his centre, his calm focus.  It took a little longer than normal but find he did, and it was then a matter of moments to gather the Force and use its invisible but powerful touch to release the catch on the razor cuffs. 

The sharp little razor- tipped teeth on the inner edge of the cuffs had slashed his wrists superficially.  There was some blood but the wounds were slight.  They stung a little when he washed them in the bathroom basin but a subtle touch of Healing Force closed the wounds in moments.  A few slashes on his wrists were the least of his worries. 

Perched on the edge of the bed, he tried to recall what Qui-Gon had said of this man.  There was very little - some old enmity, apparently Zedosha had once been an officer in Newsaran's service until he'd left an offworld mission and never returned.  Qui-Gon had spoken of Zedosha one of his few failures.  Obi-Wan had sensed something else, some strange hunger about the man that ate away at him.  Not hatred, closer to …desire.  He wanted something and it centered on Qui-Gon. 

His time on Newsaran had taught him patience, so he folded his legs under him and sat to meditate.  He would need to have a clear head and be calm to survive.  If this Zedosha had a weakness, he had to find it. 

 

* * *

 

 Zedosha entered his quarters not quite certain what to expect.  Rage, perhaps, or some sort of  attack.  Instead, the Jedi was seated cross-legged on his bed, watching his approach with an almost unnatural calm.  Sitting there, placidly waiting, as if being kidnapped was just a part of his everyday life. 

He studied the younger man watching him so coolly and wondered what it was about him that was so damned attractive.  Zedosha had known and seen many more beautiful creatures in his life, men and women, girls and boys with perfect features and the bodies of angels.  This Kenobi fascinated him for reasons beyond the superficial.  Yes, he was pleasing to look at with his green eyes and red-gold hair that framed a lively, intelligent face.  Pleasing, but hardly perfect.  Yet there was something subtly magnetic in the fearless stare.  He didn't challenge or accuse, he didn't plead or request.  He watched with eyes that saw far too much. 

He was a challenge and a prize.  He might need to die - but before he did, Zedosha swore to mark him and taste him, to sate his old enmities in that tantalising flesh. 

"How are the children?" 

The first words out of his mouth would, of course, be for the children.  Typical. 

"Well enough, for the moment." 

He stepped closer to the Jedi and reached down to lift the younger man's face towards him.  Zedosha's mouth tipped up at one corner as he ran one finger down the cleft of Obi-Wan's chin. 

"How much pain would you take for them?" 

"How much would you need to give me to let them go free?" 

Such a calm, matter-of-fact tone.  He wished he had some of those Jedi skills, to be able to read the boy's emotions.  He let Obi-Wan's head drop and walked over to pour himself a glass of wine from a wall cabinet.  Turning back, he sipped the purple wine and licked its remnants from his lips.  "They say Jedi have this ability to bond with those they have some attachment to.  Do you have such a bond with Qui-Gon?"  He saw the hesitation.  "The truth, if you will, or I'll send your lover one of his children's fingers." 

"Yes."  Calmly, with no reaction beyond a twitch of the nostrils.  "We have a link of sorts, but it is not on a verbal level." 

"Good enough."  He finished his drink in one swallow, then walked back to Obi-Wan.  "Give me your hand.  Either one will do." 

Obi-Wan lifted his left and Zedosha took it his, opened it to run his thump across the clean pink skin of the palm.  With his other hand he knocked the wine glass against the bedhead, shattering it, leaving a broken shaft.  He held up the broken glass and carefully sliced it cross Obi-Wan's open hand, gouging deeply into the flesh. 

He held on tightly as Obi-Wan gasped and tried to pull back with a cry.  "Share your pain, Jedi.  Give my dear Qui-Gon a taste of what is to come."  Zedosha held Obi-Wan's hand as the blood ran down his wrist, as he gasped in pain.  Obi-Wan heard the older man's pleased laugh through a haze of shocked pain as he slowly moved the bloodied hand between his.  "With my blessings."

 

* * *

 

 

The pain had come as a shock even though he'd prepared himself for the possibility.  He knew it was Obi-Wan, sensed his lover's attempt to smother it.  He told himself, while there is pain, he lives.  It can be healed. . .. . would be healed.  And repaid.  Carved inch by inch into the flesh of his adversary. 

Obi-Wan had begun to teach him control, to seek his focus in the Force, had shown him how destructive anger and fear could be, how they tainted the soul.  He rather suspected that Obi's teachings might be put aside until the current crisis had passed.  He stared at the datascreen in front of him, cleared his throat.  "What is the situation?" 

"No change sir, holding course for the Vergana System, two hundred Ergs and steady.  We can get closer.. ." 

"No, hold your position."  That's what he wants me to do, Qui-Gon thoughts, eyes narrowing.  Wants me to panic, to rush in blindly.  "We will wait."

 

* * *

 

 

Pride and fear for the children had held Obi-Wan in place, held him rigid as the man had sliced open his hand, cutting the fingers so deeply that he suspected tendon damage.  It had hurt -- not as badly as when he'd almost died beneath the poisoned claws of the Gulgoran, but terrible nonetheless.  And terrible, too, to just stand there and let it be done because he had no choice. 

So he cursed with words he didn't realise he knew, and sobbed and almost begged for it to stop.  Then, we'd expected more pain at the man's hands, Zedosha had pulled back with a hiss and tossed the bloodied glass away.  He pulled Obi-Wan through into the bathroom, washed the gashes under the cold water and wrapped the wounds in clean bandages taken from a cabinet.  Obi-Wan watched him, shaken and chilled, surprised by the white-lipped anger he saw in the big man's face. 

"Does it hurt much?" 

Surprised, Obi-Wan nodded mutely and didn't even have time to struggle as he was pulled against the big body. He looked up as a hand cupped him, as the other pulled his head back so that his mouth was open for a shocked gasp as Zedosha bent to kiss him. 

It was a surprisingly gentle kiss, the wide mouth opening his lips so that the invading tongue could taste him.  He could feel the man's arousal, it pressed against his stomach, hard and hot.  Zedosha wanted him and right at that moment Obi-Wan wasn't sure there he was anything he could do to stop him. 

"Why do you hate him so?"  he asked, his words muted by the mouth covering his. 

The big man sucked on Obi-Wan's upper lip for a moment then pulled back, his eyes hooded and secretive.  "I have my reasons.  Many of them." 

"It is easy to hate," Obi-Wan said as Zedosha stripped the light sleeps pants - the only things he was wearing - away from Obi-Wan's body.  Fear surged into his belly and he swallowed it, forcing it down.  "Hurting me, hurting the children -- will that ease your pain?"  He shivered a little in spite of himself, as the cool ship air curled around his vulnerable skin. 

"A little pain, a little pleasure, nothing without cost."  Zedosha pushed him backwards slowly until he was stretched across the bed with the big man's body half-covering him.  "And payback can be a long time coming." 

  

* * *

 

 

Qui-Gon's communications indicator beeped. He'd been expecting it, hoping for it but it still made him jump, and the image that appeared on the small screen made his heart stutter with combined relief and fear. 

Obi-Wan smiled at him.  It was a brave smile, but not very reassuring.  "Qui-Gon, I am well." 

He didn't say, I felt your pain, even now I can sense your fear.  Instead he nodded.  "And the children?" 

A small frown twitched Obi-Wan's eyebrows together.  "I haven't been allowed near them but I sense they are well.  Do you. . .?" 

"Yes, I can feel them.  I sense no pain, a little fear, natural enough." 

Obi-Wan vanished from screen, his image replaced by Zedosha.  "My dear Lord Jinn."  He smiled. 

"You realise," Qui-Gon said, unable to control himself, "that I will kill you for this." 

"You've been trying to do that for ten years, so far without success." 

"Yes," Qui-Gon said, striving for calm, "but you have never, before this, stolen my children.  Are you unable to face me cleanly, without children as a shield?" 

If he'd hoped to force Zedosha into doing something unwise, it didn't work.  The big blonde smiled mildly.  "I'm actually enjoying your lovely Jedi's company.  He's special.  Yes.  Special."  

As the angle of the viewer increased, Qui-Gon's hands gripped the armrests of his command chair so hard that the structure creaked.  Obi-Wan was naked and the bruises on his stomach and hips matched the hands that held him in place.  As he watched, unable to move, Zedosha moved behind Obi-Wan and ran his hands around the younger man's stomach, fingers idly stroking up the soft trail of red-gold hair that trailed down from his chest to the thicker mass of hair around his genitals. 

"He's very appealing.  I will make him part of my deal, I think.  Your capital ship, ten million credits and…Obi-Wan.  For the lives of your children." 

The big hand spread out possessively across Obi-Wan's stomach, holding him in place as Zedosha looked over his shoulder into Qui-Gon's eyes. 

"You have half a timepart to decide." 

Before the screen faded Qui-Gon saw a flash of something in Obi-Wan's eyes, as if he were saying - go, leave me, save them.  Motionless, locked in an impossible, predicament, he recognised that if it became necessary to make such a choice he would be lost either way.

 

* * *

 

 

He'd been dreaming, and the power of the dream woke him.  Foresight sometimes came to him that way, images in the subconscious, visions outside of waking.  It wasn't always easy to tell and his current situation made the telling even harder.  Captured and abused, a man might be prone to nightmares.  Yes the dreams had tasted of vision and he lay on the big bed and considered them, and what had motivated them. 

Obi-Wan realised he'd been suffering under a delusion.  He had thought that the way to save the children, and Qui-Gon, was to surrender himself to Zedosha.  He sniffed, unhappy with himself for his presumption of wisdom.  The dream had been clear enough - Qui-Gon turned to darkness, a destroyer with only hate in his heart; powerful, yes, but lost and cruel and gone down to the end of his days in raw loneliness.  

Better he had never known me at all, Obi-Wan thought, that that I should be the cause of his fall.  It was worrying, that his fate should be so intimately linked to the fate of another.  It was the cost of loving, of being loved.  We cause ripples, he thought, as he stood to dress.  Sometimes large, sometimes small, but what we do impacts on those around us.  _I may have to be something other than I understand to save us all.  So be it.  I am Jedi, I endure._  

To act was to risk the children's lives as well as his own - but he rather thought that he knew the man he loved so well would not want them all to simply submit.  Obi-Wan knew he needed to learn a new way of being, if he was to be the mate of a man like Qui-Gon Jinn. 

They thought him weak and subdued, even Zedosha, who should know better than to underestimate an enemy.  When he opened the door and asked the guard outside to come in, the man saw no threat from the smaller, unarmed young man.  But Obi-Wan Kenobi was a Knight/Healer of the Jedi Order and he was never entirely defenceless.  The door closed and the man collapsed as a precisely-placed pressure strike cut off oxygen to his brain.  

Obi-Wan ignored the blaster in the man's hip holster - a noisy weapon, it would do more harm than good.  He tied strips of bedding around the mercenary's ankles and wrists and then woke him.  

The big man was around the same age as Qui-Gon, or even a little older, his face criss-crossed with scars and his silvery hair cut short to his head.  Pale eye focused on Obi-Wan's face and he began to struggle and curse.  "You bastard, let me -!" 

Obi-Wan flicked his fingers across the man's throat and the mercenary froze in shock as his voice faded.  "I can silence your voice forever, if I want to," Obi-Wan said softly, eyes locked on the man's face.  "I'm a healer, and I know where to touch to injure as easily as heal.  Will you be quiet now, or quiet forever?" 

The man swallowed and nodded, silent. 

"Good.  Now, where are the children?  And don't bother lying, I can tell if you do."  It was an untruth, but he was counting on the other not knowing that much about Jedi.  It seemed to be a good guess, because the mercenary didn't hesitate.

 "Down the hall, second door this side.  They ain't hurt, you know, I like kids. . ." 

"What about their guards?" 

"No guards inside."  The man shrugged at Obi-Wan's frown.  "Well, they is just little kids, what can they do. . " 

Obi-Wan tapped the man on the side of the head at a precise location and the big figure sagged back, immediately unconscious.  There was no way to be certain, it was time to tell if there really was such a thing as luck. 

"Time to go," he said quietly to himself, as he stood and opened the door.  He waited, tense, his senses strained as he listened.  Taking a deep breath, he slipped out into the corridor and ran down to the door that the guard had told him of.  A little twist of the Force and the door opened for him. 

He stepped inside - then dodged as a lamp base swung towards his head.  Another piece of furniture struck him on the shin and he yelped and jumped and turned to see Destra, standing on a shelf beside the door, pulling back from her strike.  Little Kade was crouched down behind a chair with a broken chair leg gripped in both hands.  They cried out and threw themselves at him. 

"Obi-Wan! I'm sorry!" 

"Obi!  They shut us in here and didn't give us any dinner and they are going to hurt Father, aren't they!" 

He hushed them both and closed the door, then crouched down beside them.  "You both have to be quick and quiet and brave, because I'm taking us away from here.  Can you do that for me?" 

Children of a warrior people, they both nodded in silence, their small faces grim.  

"Good.  Now, did either of you happen to see any sign of a ship bay, a place with smaller ship in it, like shuttles?" 

Kade shook his head but Destra stood and pointed to the computer terminal across the room.  "I cracked that thing, Obi.  It's really easy, just took a little juggling with the bits.  You can find the way out from that." 

He shook his head and hugged the young girl.  "You are too much, Destra.  Force knows what these people would do if they knew you'd broken into their system.  Does your father know you can do this sort of thing" he asked, as he stood and went to the comp terminal. 

"Father sort of knows," she said, perching on the chair next to the compunit.  "I got into trouble once because I wrecked a thing somewhere and he told me not to do it unless it was important.  This is important, isn't it?" 

"It certainly is," Obi-Wan said, mildly distracted by the information flashing across the screen.  "Ah yes, here it is.  Shuttle bay.  One level down, not too far.  So."  He cut the comp off and swung around, folding his arms over his chest.  "Are you up for an escape attempt?  Could be dangerous." 

Kade stood and planted his hands on his hips looking, for a moment, achingly like his father.  "I want to leave now and I think we should shoot anyone who stops us!" 

"Good thing I left the blaster behind, then," Obi-Wan said with a grin.  "All right, let's go - and remember, quiet, quick and fast." 

They moved behind him as he went to the door.  Opening it, Obi-Wan listened, then checked carefully outside.  He ducked back and closed the door as a figure entered the corridor.  Obi-Wan waited, pressed to the wall.  The sounds of footsteps grew louder and passed by, fading as the man continued down the passageway.  When it was completely quiet he opened the door again, checked again. 

"Let's go," he whispered and ducked outside, the two children following quietly behind.  He turned a corner and hit the elevator button, praying it would arrive empty.  It did.  He moved inside, placed the children to either side of the door and pressed the button for the next level down.  A few seconds later they arrived - the door opened and a figure stood waiting. 

The crewman saw Obi-Wan and looked surprised but before he could do more than open his mouth Obi-Wan leant forward, grabbed him and pulled him inside with enough force to propel him against the rear wall of the elevator.  The crewman hit the wall with a slight bang and fell backwards into Obi-Wan's arms.  He lowered the unconscious man to the deck and motioned the children outside before hitting the service button to lock the elevator in place.  He closed the door and took the children to one side to observe. 

The big shuttle bay was dimly lit and contained two small shuttles and what looked like an older model snub fighter.  Six or seven crew moved about the area, there was the sound of equipment being used and the flash of laser tools.  He was about to speak when the sharp whine of a siren broke the silence. 

"I think we've been missed," Obi-Wan said, seeing the alarm beacons flare into life.  "Time to move fast.  Follow me and prepare to hide if I tell you to." 

With the children close behind him, Obi-Wan ran across the shuttle bay towards the fighter.  Two crewman tried to intercept him; he sprang at them, using his feet to kick them aside, grabbing a third and tossing him into a pile of crated equipment.  There was a shout and a blaster bolt hit the wall a few feet from his head.  Obi-Wan dodged and ducked, moving faster than he had since his early training, wishing he had his lightsaber.  

"Hide!" he called out as he ran.  He saw the two small figures duck behind the crates and turned his attention to the remaining three crew.  Leaping and dodging at an inhuman speed, he circled around behind them, and started throwing objects until the huddled mercenaries were being inundated by a storm of tools, boxes, piping, metal and plastic.  One by one they fell and Obi-Wan turned at last to signal the two children. 

"All right, lets go!  To the fighter!" 

The shuttles were bigger and would have taken them more comfortably, but they needed the speed and firepower of the fighter to have any chance of escape.  He'd never flown a fighter, but he hoped his tutoring in small spacecraft would be good enough.  Dragging the power leads away, he kicked off the restraining bolts and climbed up to the cockpit, lifting the children up inside.  Kade squirmed into the seat next to him and Destra sat on his lap.  There wasn't room to fit the safety harness, nor time for any pre-flight checks.  With Force assistance he closed the canopy, fired the engines and started up the flight systems. 

"Obi - they are coming towards us!" 

Obi-Wan turned and saw a party of armed raiders entering the bay from the elevator shaft.  They'd obviously overridden his lock and were down in force.  Seconds, he had only seconds before they disabled the fighter.  With a small prayer to the Force for luck, he pulled the controls of the fighter up and the little ship lifted off the deck.  It wavered and pitched; he fought it for a moment, then felt small hands covering his. 

"I can do it, Obi.  Trust me, I'm a good pilot." 

"Destra…" 

"She is, Obi-Wan," Kade said in a frightened whisper.  "Real good.  She can get us out." 

Obi-Wan sensed the truth as a ripple in the Force, and released his hands.  "All right, little hawk, get us out.  I'll take out the door." 

As Desta swung the fighter around, Obi-Wan used a deft Force touch to target the ship's blaster on the closed bay door.  When it was powered up, he fired and a white stream of blaster fire began punching a hole through the ship's outer shell.  It was a near thing - he bit his lip, tasting blood as Destra flew the little fighter into a glowing hole only just big enough to fit through.  With a shudder and a squeal of metal they were out and hurtling away from the raider. 

"Well done.  Now, let's hope your father is watching," Obi-Wan said, as he searched for the communications system.  "And listening." 

 

* * *

 

"Sir!  They've launched a fighter." 

Qui-Gon turned his attention to the main sensor screen.  It had been a longer and tiring night and his nerves were stretched to breaking.  He was tired and angry and he wanted to strike out. 

"Good, target on it and -" 

"Sir, we're getting a signal.  From the fighter."  The communications officer hunched over his controls, frowning.  "It's garbled but it sounds like…help…someone asking for help." 

Qui-Gon swung around and leapt out of his seat, pushing the officer aside.  He boosted the signal. 

". . .hear me. . .help . .don't shoot . ." 

Yes!  "It's Obi-Wan!" 

His Second officer studied the fighter's wavering flight.  "Sir, it could be a trick." 

Qui-Gon closed his eyes and listened with those hidden, special senses that his lover had just begun to open for him.  "No.  No trick.  It's him, and he has the children with him.  Prepare to take that fighter aboard."

 "My Lord, the raider is turning." 

Even as Qui-Gon turned towards the officer he saw the little fighter shudder and stop, as if it had hit some invisible wall.  

"Sir, they've activated a tractor beam." 

Qui-Gon froze, concern warring with frustration, as he watched the fighter being inexorably pulled back towards the "Blackhawk".

  

* * *

 

 

Aboard the fighter, Obi-Wan had taken the controls and fought to break the tractor beam's hold, with success. 

"It's just too powerful," he said as cut the thrusters.  "If I keep going I'll blow something up."  He looked beyond the small cockpit windows at the "Byrade".  So close. 

He felt a small hand grip his arm and looked into Qui-Gon's son's face.  "Please Obi, please don't take us back there." 

"I may not have any choice, Kade.  This is only a little ship, I can't fight the "Blackhawk's" tractor." 

"What about the Force," Destra said, her blue eyes intent.  "You said there isn't anything greater than the Force.  This fighter isn't stronger, but maybe we can be, all three of us." 

Obi-Wan bit his lip as he considered it.  Was it possible?  Could he link to the children as he was linked to their father, combine their strength with his own?  No Jedi had ever done it, that he knew of - but then, no Jedi has his touch with the Living Force, through is training as a Healer.  "We can try.  You must do exactly what I say, and not argue at all.  Do you trust me?" 

They both nodded and he took a deep breath.  "Very well, we shall do it then.  Take my hand."  He linked hands with them and settled them against him.  "Relax, close your eyes, listen only to my voice, to nothing else but my voice.  Reach inside you, feel the Force within you, that wonderful, warm sense of life.  Good.  Good.  Now reach out to me, not with your hands, but with that warm life.. . ." 

Tapping into his bond with Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan amplified the life essence coming through to him, sensing it as two familiar ribbons of light, so similar to the ever-present tie that linked him to his mate.  Twining them together, he did something like a healing linkage, drawing out the strength as he would in preparation to infuse the healing into a sick body.  When it was ready, he directed it backwards, along the harsh cold power of the tractor beam, into the heart of the "Blackhawk". 

He could not use the children's lifeforce to kill, but he could use it to disturb.  He flooded the beings on the raider's bridge with a sudden outpouring of pure Living Force.  It was, he imagined, something like a great light suddenly revealed in darkness. 

Some wept, some screamed, some felt a sort of pain in evils clearly revealed.  One or two passed out at their stations or fell, stunned, to the deck.  He couldn't sustain it for long, it was never meant to be delivered in such a way, but in those few moments Obi-Wan felt the crew of the Blackhawk flinch before the Light.  Hands shook on controls, instruments were fumbled - and the Tractor Beam blinked off. 

It was only for a moment, but it was enough for them - for the three of them - to pull the fighter away and send it leaping and swooping back towards the "Byrade".  Their linkage dissolved as they slid into the open bay but Obi-Wan knew that he would always be a little closer to these two people, and they would understand him a little better than almost anyone else. 

Even as the "Blackhawk" dodged and jumped to hyperspace, they were climbing out of the fighter and then two ecstatic children and one almost as happy Jedi were hugging and being embraced by their Lord.

 

* * *

 

 

Newsaran gave them a happy welcome home, although their arrival was also a cause of some distress when it was revealed that one of Qui-Gon's own personal staff had been bribed to allow the raiders through the security screens.  Obi-Wan had tried to argue in the man's defence because he saw the anger in his lover's eyes. 

They were back at their home, the children with their mothers, and Qui-Gon was walking back and forth across their living room as the Newsaran sun set beyond the mountains.  They stormy sky was no less violent than the world's leader in that moment. 

He was bitterly angry, Obi-Wan could sense that, hurt by the betrayal and angry at the manner of it.  They had barely had time for more than a few words during the journey home, and once back Qui-Gon had been caught up in the tracing and apprehension of the traitor.  He seemed consumed by it, his tall body stiff with anger as he paced. 

I am not trained for this, he thought, I am not a political creature.  Who is to say he is wrong, wanting this man's death?  But he knew it was a path to darkness, when death was delivered not in defence or even in justice, but in vengeance.  

"What are you thinking?" he asked softly. 

Qui-Gon paused and turned to him, eyebrows drawn together.  "That he needs to die.  That he betrayed me, endangered my world, my people, my children - you." 

"I wish you wouldn't kill him because of me." 

Qui-Gon sat beside him and wrapped one arm around his shoulders.  "You are a gentle spirit, my love, but I cannot always afford to be forgiving, or gentle.  My people have a harsh history, we remember all too well the ways of betrayal.  They want him to die.  I understand that."  He buried his face in Obi-Wan's hair.  "I only wish it was that bastard Zedosha.  For what he did to you . . ."  He took Obi-Wan's scarred hand and kissed the bruised and torn skin.  "For all that he did to you.  Don't expect mercy from me if I ever catch him.  Parts of him will die before the rest of him does." 

The anger was rising again and Obi-Wan leaned against the tall body, relaxing into Qui-Gon's arms as he was enfolded in his lover's warmth.  "It doesn't matter now.  This is what matters."  He pushed aside the fabric of Qui-Gon's shirt and kissed the lightly haired chest.  He rubbed his face against it, his body stirring to arousal as he sensed a similar reaction in Qui-Gon.  "Make love to me." 

In a moment all thought of vengeance or death was forgotten.  Large familiar hands stripped the clothing away from him as he tried to kiss and touch every inch of Qui-Gon's body as it was revealed, layer by layer.  His mind buzzed with reflected passion, he groaned as he was lifted and moved, his mind hazy with desire. 

"What would have happened?" Qui-Gon asked, breathless as he slid Obi-Wan's legs around his waist.  "If you'd died, what would have happened?" 

"You might have followed me," he said, bracing himself, arms linking around Qui-Gon's.  "It's not - not always so.  Depends on how deeply we are bound together." 

"This deeply," Qui-Gon said hoarsely as he slid into the depths of Obi-Wan's body.  "So you had better not leave me."  He thrust, arching backwards, his long hair swirling around his shoulders as he moved.  Excited and exulted, Obi-Wan rode the beat of their mutual pleasure and shed his fears in the explosion of climax.  There was no Darkness.  There was no evil.  There was only love, and light, and the Force.

  

 

 

 


End file.
